Pensum
Pensum vs Lose It!
Lose It looks affordable: a real free tier and Premium at around 40 USD per year. The gap shows up once you track seriously. Custom macro goals in grams, eating-pattern insights, a fasting timer and body measurements are Premium, and the free tier carries banner ads in daily use. Pensum puts the serious-tracking features in the free core, with no ads, no account and no card.
Android only.
Side by side
Prices as of 2026; check the store for current numbers.
| Pensum | Lose It | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Full-featured core, free | Real free tier for logging; serious features and ad-free are Premium |
| Cost to keep using | Free now. Everyday tracking free forever; early users keep adaptive expenditure and AI free | Free tier usable; Premium around 40 USD per year for the rest |
| Ads | None, on any tier | Banner ads on the free tier; ad-free is a Premium upgrade |
| Behind the paywall | Gram macro targets, trends and timestamps: free forever. Adaptive expenditure: free today and for early users | Custom macro goals in grams, eating-pattern insights, fasting timer, body measurements, meal planning |
| Macro targets in grams | Free | Premium |
| Adaptive expenditure / TDEE | Yes, free today and free for early users, with weekly check-in | Personalized calorie budget from your goal; not adaptive expenditure |
| Food database | USDA plus German and Swiss national databases, generic foods first | Very large crowd-built database, broad US brands |
| Privacy | Local-first, no account | Cloud account |
| Platforms | Android (early); Health Connect sync | iOS, Android |
Where Lose It is stronger: it is friendly, mature, runs on both iOS and Android, and has broad US brand-name food coverage. For casual calorie awareness its free tier is fine.
What actually differs
The free tier is real, but serious tracking is Premium
Lose It's free tier genuinely works for calorie logging. The features that matter once you track seriously are Premium: custom macro goals in grams, eating-pattern insights, an intermittent fasting timer, body measurements and meal planning. The free tier also shows banner ads, and removing them is itself a Premium upgrade. Premium runs around 40 USD per year. Pensum keeps those tracking features in the free core and shows no ads on any tier.
Gram targets free forever, adaptive expenditure free for early users
Lose It puts gram-level macro goals behind Premium and gives the free tier a personalized calorie budget instead. Pensum sets macro targets in grams for free forever, and estimates your real energy expenditure from your logged weight and intake, updating targets with a weekly check-in. Adaptive expenditure is free right now, and early users keep it free when it becomes an optional Pro tier.
Who should switch
Lose It's free tier is fine if calorie awareness is all you want, and it runs on iPhone, which Pensum does not. The moment you want targets in grams, Lose It asks for around 40 dollars a year. Pensum gives you gram targets, trends and meal timestamps free forever, with no ads, and adaptive expenditure free right now.
Questions
Is Pensum a good Lose It alternative?
If you like Lose It but keep hitting Premium prompts, Pensum is a direct alternative: the tracker is free with no ads, and the serious-tracking features Lose It charges for, gram-level macro targets, trends and meal timestamps, are free forever, with adaptive expenditure free today and free for early users. Lose It is friendlier, more mature and runs on both iOS and Android, so for casual calorie awareness on a budget it remains a fine app.
What does Lose It paywall behind Premium?
Lose It's free tier covers calorie logging and its large food database, but several features people want for serious tracking sit behind Premium: custom macro goals in grams, eating-pattern insights, an intermittent fasting timer, body measurements and meal planning. Premium also removes the ads, and it costs around 40 USD per year. In Pensum those tracking features are all in the free core.
Does Lose It show ads?
Yes. Lose It shows banner ads on its free tier, and an ad-free experience is one of the things Premium unlocks. Pensum has no ads on any tier, so there are none to remove.
Can I set macro targets in grams for free in Pensum?
Yes. Pensum lets you set macro targets in grams for free. In Lose It, custom macro goals in grams are a Premium feature; the free tier shows your macro totals but does not let you set gram targets.
Is Pensum free?
Right now everything is free, with no ads on any tier: the full diary, the food catalogue, saved meals, recipes, trends, targets, weigh-ins, Health Connect sync, adaptive expenditure and AI meal-photo scanning. Everyday tracking is free forever. Adaptive expenditure and the AI scans are free right now, and early users keep them free when they become an optional Pro tier.
Which food database is better, Pensum or Lose It?
Lose It has a very large crowd-built food database with strong US brand-name coverage. Pensum bundles USDA data plus the German and Swiss national food databases, ranks generic whole foods above branded products, and flags every value as verified, partial or estimated. For US brand-name products Lose It is broad; for generic whole foods and European items Pensum has coverage most global apps lack.
The serious-tracking features Lose It charges for: gram targets and trends, free forever. Adaptive expenditure, free today, and free for good if you start now.